Nick Clegg: Gabriel Garcia Marquez inspired me to write
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Many view Nick Clegg as a frustrated politician, unable to promote the Liberal Democrats' agenda in a predominantly Conservative coalition. Now it has emerged that the Deputy Prime Minister is also a frustrated author, having penned a "shockingly bad" draft of a novel in his early twenties.
Mr Clegg said his attempt was inspired by Gabriel Garcia Marquez's The Autumn Of The Patriarch, which follows the solitary, desperate life of a fictional dictator. Acknowledging that his work wouldn't be bothering the Booker Prize jury any time soon, he promised that the 120-page effort "will never see the light of day".
He told Easy Living magazine that he "would still love to write a novel," adding: "I find writing very therapeutic. I would love to emulate the style of one of my favourite writers, J M Coetzee, although I don't think I ever could. But I love that very simple, sparse style – not a single surplus word. It's almost barren; so beautiful."
Mr Clegg said he read at least a few pages of fiction "religiously, every night before I go to sleep", claiming he wasn't a "24-hour political obsessive". He added: "I can't imagine anything worse than doing politics all day then reading about it all night." He also listed his seven favourite books: they included Crime And Punishment by Dostoevsky, Lampedusa's The Leopard and Roy Jenkins's biography of William Gladstone.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments